UN Action on Reprisals

Thursday 6 May

4pm CEST / 10am EDT

Register here

The UN relies on the information and cooperation of NGOs, civil society actors and human rights defenders to carry out its work and ensure that the UN has impact at the local level. But human rights defenders and victims of human rights violations and abuses who engage with the UN can face intimidation and reprisals. Between 2010 and 2020, the Secretary-General’s annual reports on intimidation and reprisals documented 709 cases or situations.
 
Are there trends and patterns in the kinds of cases documented in the Secretary-General’s annual reports on this topic? How have these cases been followed up on over time? And what happens when the UN raises an incident? Do reprisal victims and their representatives consider the UN’s response effective? These are the questions tackled in ISHR’s new report, which offers a quantitative analysis of the cases documented in the UN Secretary-General’s past 11 annual reports on intimidation and reprisals (published between 2010 and 2020). The report also considers assessments of impact and outcomes provided by some victims and their representatives.
 
While cases of intimidation and reprisal documented in the Secretary-General’s reports are only the tip of the iceberg, analysis of the available data holds significant insights that could inform and strengthen UN action to combat reprisals. This virtual event will bring together relevant stakeholders to discuss the report’s findings, and ways to strengthen the response to reprisals going forward.

Welcome remarks:

• Ambassador James Roscoe, UK Mission to the UN

Presentation of the report’s findings:

• Janika Spannagel, Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi)

Discussants:

• Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights
• Maryam Al-Khawaja, Bahraini Human Rights Defender and International Advocate
• Cristina Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan

Moderator:

• Madeleine Sinclair, ISHR.